The Church Bell Tower Puzzle in in 6 Pieces

This story is part of my Swedish heritage. As a child, I never thought I would see this unique Bell Tower. Now, I have not only visited it, but have stories of the Swedish - Ukrainian connections over the years.

Piece #1 – 1930's - When I was a very little girl, I remember a color postcard my Mormor (mother's mother in Swedish) showed me. It was a rectangular card with a tall wooden Bell Tower, constructed of, what looked like huge railroad ties, in the yard beside the church of her husband's family. That picture fascinated me. It was not like any church steeple I had ever seen. It was constructed of different materials than the church. There was also a unique object on top of the tower, a strange (to me), structure, shaped like an onion. On top of that was a wire weather vane in the shape of a rooster (typical on Swedish churches). Much later, I learned the round object on the tower, was traditional for Orthodox church steeples.

Piece #2 – 1980's - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Now I live in the Twin Cities and am enjoying new groups and events I found here. I had lived in NY city as a child and was exposed to many different ethnic and cultural groups. Later in grad school in NY, I loved trying out restaurants and events I hadn't experienced. Here, one of the first such events I attended was the Christmas Festival at the Ukrainian Center in Mpls on a Saturday in early December. Many activities to choose from - dancing, singing, bazaars, art works, and, of course, great special food items. For lunch, my friends and I went to the food court area with a Buffet Lunch line and tables of cookies, cakes, breads and other goodies to buy or try out. After lunch, when I looked at the baked goods assortment, I was surprised to see cookies my Mormor and Auntie Frances (the ultimate cookie baker for her neighborhood), made every year. Cookies included Spritz, formed with a special tool, and one with butter dough wrapped around a Pecan; dusted with powdered sugar - 'Mexican Wedding Cakes'. Too many others to remember. I said to the server, 'These look just like my Swedish family made. Her answer was immediate. 'Oh, they probably are! You see, many years ago Swedish soldiers helped us in a war. The GI's were young and homesick. They exchanged recipes from their Moms and Grandmas.'

Here was a connection I knew nothing about - between Swedes and Ukrainians – many worshiping at Orthodox Churches.

Piece #3 – 1987 – The story continues. That summer, I had the privilege of taking my 86 yr old Mom to Sweden. Her 6 first cousins were all still living in an area on the West Coast, south of Goteborg, and entertained us Royally. Then we had a special trip with a Swedish friend I met at Bethel U. – a pastor who was born in the same area my Mother's father came from. He invited us to visit him and his wife – and – great joy! He would take us to the home of a distant cousin there. Mother's cousin's nephew drove us around the area villages and to the church. Then, I saw the Bell Tower, in all its glory; in reality, for the first time. A plaque on the Tower, told the story of the Onion on top; a memorial for Ukrainian soldiers who had fought with Swedish soldiers from that area in the early 1700's.

Piece #4 – 2023 – Ehomes Terrace. Saturday evenings at 6 PM. The 4th floor tradition is to serve dessert each week – by a different resident. Lots of conversation. Topics often include conflicts in the world, such as the Ukraine situation. I mentioned the Swedish connection with my Morfar's church one evening and got an immediate response from a resident who is a Russian History expert/retired professor. He explained the history of those 2 countries and their collaboration during former wars. That helped tie the story together in a way I hardly expected to hear.

Piece #5 – Feb. '23 – I just searched and found a Wikipedia site that included info and photos of the town, the church and the Swedish/Ukrainian connections since the early 1700's.

Piece #6 - July, '23 – Another piece of this just arrived from a story on MPR. Colorful, floral scarves have been worn by Ukrainian women in their folk dress outfits for many years, back in the 1700's, when a poor harvest occurred in Sweden,workers from Dalarna, Sweden would go to Ukraine to help there. They liked the scarves and would buy them to bring back to Mom or the girl friend. Gradually, these scarves became part of the Dalarna – and other areas – folk dress. Later in the 1850's-1900 Great Migration took place from Sweden, Some of those women settled in Saskatchewan, Canada, home of the Cree nation. Cree women were bead artists and decorated their garments with beaded flowers. They saw the Swedish scarves and wanted one!. Trades were made between Cree and Swedish women, Colorful scarves became part of Cree folk dress. Then, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Cree women began to show solidarity with the Ukrainians by wearing their colorful scarves.

How a small item became a strong binding agent between people who know oppression.